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Nearly every cribbage player knows that 29 is the highest-scoring hand that one can achieve, and that 19 and some others are impossible to score.

However, I'm curious to know what is the highest score one can achieve during the play of the cards (also known as "pegging"? What cards would need to be played, in what order, and what would your opponent's pegged score be? This question is meant to exclude the final count of points in one's hand.

I'm sure the answer probably differs between 2, 3, and 4-player games because there are more cards available when there are more players. My question is focused on the two player game. If anyone happens to have answers for the others as well though, those would be interesting to know.

I'm only looking for "pegged", but thanks. Could you please flesh this out with a bit more detail, as requested in the question? Particularly, since the question explicitly asks for it, the answer should include at least one example of how the pegged score would be achieved and what the opponent's hand would look like - the data shouldn't just reside behind a link.
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IsziFeb 24 '12 at 15:05

(+1). The data is in your answer (though I would suggest mentioning the contribution to the total of each of hand, peg, crib)
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The Chaz 2.0Feb 24 '12 at 15:08

@Iszi,if you were only interested in pegged then that is what you should have asked. the way the questioned is worded, you are asking about MAX total score per single deal. it would be weid if you were asking about winning the game 121-1 plus max score per deal.
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user1873Feb 24 '12 at 17:00

The question could also be interpreted to be the highest possible score in a game, rather than a hand, which is 173 (peg to 120, St:5x H:Jx555=29, C:4466=24), or the highest one can get without counting one's hand (135... at 120, and score a double pair royal 15 on last card, for 12+2+1=15...)
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aramisFeb 25 '12 at 9:05

1

@aramis, fair enough. My point was the question was badly worded, and I don't believe that the OP's interpretation can be arrived at from the way it is currently worded.
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user1873Feb 25 '12 at 14:50

Joe O'Brien showed, that dealer can score 30 points (not 26 points as we stated before with a dealer's hand 4,4,4,7, pone's hand 4,8,10,K, and the jack as a starter).

In Joe's example Dealer hand 7,7,4,4 ; Pone hand 7,7,4,4. Sequence of play is as follows:

Pone 7 7 4 4

Dealer 7 7 4 4

Dealer Points 2 13 2 13

Dealer Totals 2 15 17 30

This example of dealer maximal cribbage hands is in the article based on the letter of Joe O'Brien.

Update - Joe O'Brien showed that there is a hand that will give the
pone a total of 24 in pegging. The Pone holding 5 5 4 4, and the
Dealer holding 5 4 4 (na/). The Pone hits both the fifteen and the
thirty-one, picking up a triple at the 15 mark and a pair and four of
a kind on the way to the thirty-one mark. Kyle Graham showed, that
pone can score 22 points (in opposite to other articles, that states
max pone score is 18 points). Pone's hand: A, A, 3, 3; Dealer's hand
A, 3, 3, NA. The sequence of play is A, A, A, 3, 3, 3, 3, NA; Pone
gets 6+2+14 = 22 points. Later our player Kenneth Anderson showed,
that the maximum cribbage scoring for Pone pegging is 23. Pone's hand:
5 (or 6) 4 4 4; Dealer's hand: 5 (or 6) 4 9 9 (9 9 could be any cards
worth 9 or above). Total Pone points: 5+6+12 = 23 . More examples of
pone maximal cribbage hands are in the article based on the letters of
Joe O'Brien, Kyle Graham and Kenneth Anderson.

Could you please flesh this out with a bit more detail, as requested in the question? Particularly, since the question explicitly asks for it, the answer should include at least one example of how the pegged score would be achieved and what the opponent's hand would look like - the data shouldn't just reside behind a link.
–
IsziFeb 24 '12 at 15:05

Another possibility for 32 points is if both players hold 6 6 7 7 and you are the dealer. First player plays 7, you play 7 for 2, they play 7 for 6, you play 7 for 12 and a go. 15. Then all the 6s get played for another 15 points. The extra 2 points being if a jack is flipped.